ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors of lymph node metastasis of early gastric cance.Methods:The data of 176 early gastric cancer patients (EGC) undergoing radical gastrectomy were analyzed retrospectively.Results:Lymph node (LN) metastasis occurred in 24 patients. The average harvested LN in the negative group was 23±13, and that in the positive group was 30±16, ( t=0.327, P=0.015). Univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences in the depth of tumor invasion ( χ2=3.997, P=0.046), degree of pathological differentiation ( χ2=9.919, P=0.007), vascular invasion ( χ2=35.145, P=0.000) and nerve invasion ( χ2=13.343, P=0.000). Multivariate analysis showed that vascular infiltration ( OR=16.172, 95% CI: 4.781-55.875), nerve infiltration ( OR=1.365, 95% CI: 1.029-14.897), infiltration depth ( OR=1.859, 95% CI: 1.844-22.711) were independent risk factors for LN metastasis in early gastric cancer ( P<0.05). The overall 3-year survival rate was 96.6%, and the 5-year survival rate was 91.6%. Conclusion:The lymph node metastasis of early gastric cancer is related to the degree of differentiation, the depth of invasion, vascular invasion, nerve invasion and the number of lymph node dissected.